About: The National Library of Ireland holds microfilm copies of over 3500 church registers from parishes in Ireland. The library has now digitised these registers as images which provide records of baptisms and marriages from the majority of Catholic parishes in Ireland and Northern Ireland up to around 1880. The available registers are not searchable by individual’s names. Instead, they are browseable by diocese, parish and date, searchable by parish and it is possible to zoom from a country map to parish level. This blog entry relates to the parish of Dunlavin in West Wicklow.

Contents: These registers cover baptisms and marriages from 1839 to 1881. This date range is indicative only and coverage may be incomplete. Please refer to the NLI site for specific coverage.

About: Tithe Applotment Books were compiled between 1823 and 1837 in an attempt to determine how much the holders of agricultural land over 1 acre should pay in taxes or tithes to the established Church of Ireland. These books list the name of the head of each relevant household outside of urban areas. A Tithe Applotment book was compiled for each Church of Ireland parish. Some of the transcribed names of people and places are not 100% accurate, but the original entries may be viewed for clarification.

About: Tithe Applotment Books were compiled between 1823 and 1837 in an attempt to determine how much the holders of agricultural land over 1 acre should pay in taxes or tithes to the established Church of Ireland. These books list the name of the head of each relevant household outside of urban areas. A Tithe Applotment book was compiled for each Church of Ireland parish. Some of the transcribed names of people and places are not 100% accurate, but the original entries may be viewed for clarification.

Full title: Education in Wicklow: from parish schools to national schools

Creator / Author: Michael Seery

Item Type / Page count: Book / 189p

When Published: 2014

Publisher / Place of Publication:Creathach Press / Wicklow [?]

About: A meticulously researched and well-presented work which traces the history of purpose-built schoolhouses in Wicklow up to around the middle of the nineteenth-century. Written by someone who has an obvious passion both for education and for local history, it is hard to believe that a book of this size could contain so much information.

ID number(s): 9780992823306

Chapters: [Introduction] Education in Ireland – Penal Laws – The lay of the land – Sources for this study – Overview of book.
[Education in Ireland before and under the Penal Laws] Royal schools – Charter schools – Other schools.
[Landlord educators and the Wicklow Education Society] The Kildare Place Society — The Wicklow Education Society – The Fitzwilliam Estate – Arklow Barony – Talbotstown Barony – North-east Wicklow – Conclusion.
[The emergence of a National School system] The decline of the Kildare Place Society – National Schools in County Wicklow — Conclusions.
[Appendices] Extracts from the reports of the Kildare Place Society training records for Wicklow (1814-1825) — Extracts from the records of the Kildare Place Society: gratuities awarded to teachers to 1824 — Extracts from the Lord Lieutenant’s Fund for County Wicklow – Wicklow returns to the Second Report of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry (abridged) – Brief biographical details of those with an interest in Wicklow education – Schools marked on Ordnance Survey of Ireland Map (1838-1840), with web link to OSI map, Google Map, Google image (where school building is still in existence) and notes on the location of school – Bibliography – Endnotes.

Parent Publication [book]: County of Wicklow: valuation of the several tenements comprising that portion of the Union of Baltinglass situate in the county above named / Richard Griffith, General Valuation Office / 106pp

About: The property tax system of 1850’s Ireland. It was the first major attempt at valuing property. This section lists householders in the Parish of Crehelp, part of the area covered by the Poor Law Union of Baltinglass in West Wicklow.

Full title: Stone and Bronze Age Antiquities of the Barony of Lower Talbotstown, County Wicklow; with a description of the excavation of Haylands Mote, near Blessington

Creator / Author: L. Price and P. T. Walshe

Item Type / Page count: Journal Article / 22p

Journal Information: Journal of The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Seventh Series, Volume 3, Number 1, pp. 46-67

When Published: June 1933

Publisher / Place of Publication: R.S.A.I / Merrion Square, Dublin

About: In 1932, the authors excavated an ancient mound at Haylands, near Blessington and discovered a Bronze Age burial. This prompted them to investigate similar burials that were recorded for the locality and to carry out a review of all Stone Age and Bronze Age monuments and objects to be found in the wider barony of Lower Talbotstown.

About: A statistical return of the extent of townlands and towns, their Poor Law valuation, the number of males/females and the number of houses in County Wicklow. The number of persons and houses for 1841 are included for comparison purposes. This allows for a quick check on the effect that the Great Famine had on the demographics of West Wicklow.

About: A substantial article on the archaeological remains to be found in this area of West Wicklow. The author divides the article into headings such as: Some notes on the early history of the district; Ancient battle sites; Tumuli, raths and moats; Dolmens and stone circles; Standing stones, bullaun stones and other antiquities.

About: This is fourth volume of the definitive seven-volume series which covers the placenames in all the parishes of County Wicklow. The author was a judge in the district courts of Wicklow and his travels throughout the county presented the opportunity to research the history behind local placemanes.